Portable supporting device



will 3,, 1934., H BENTLEY 1,95,57

PORTABLE SUPPORTING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 31, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Hg. 2. I

Juventor flamla W East/6y April 3, 1934. H. W. BENTLEY 1,953,527

PORTABLE SUPPORTING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 51, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Fig.3.

Harold Wfie/illeg April 3, 1934. H. w. BENTLEY PORTABLE SUPPORTINGDEVICE Original Filed Dec. 31, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 gi mg,

Patented Apr. 3, 1934 pair. sTATESJ neae e a Septembeilj1933' w ims-45-$92 lvly invention relates to a portable supporting device forsupporting fiat articles such as'books, pictures, cards, etc. Theprincipal object of my invention is to provide a portable supportingdevice which is adapted to support flat objects muchlarger than itselfprovide a portable supporting device which is adapted to support an openbook in an inclined,

position so'that it maybe conveniently read; A further object of myinvention isto provide a portable display device which can be folded upquickly into a compact form so as to occupy a minimum of space therebyfacilitating the packing of the devices for shipment and the car 29rying of same in a'persons pocket or brief case.

Other objects of my invention are to provide a portable supportingdevice which shall be sim ple of construction, cheap to manufacture andof considerable strength though light in weight.

The various features and objects of the invention will be more fullyunderstood upon reference to "the following detailed description, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, while the scope of theinvention'will be particu 3 0, larly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the blank from which the base is formed.Figure 2 is a detail view showing the pintle. Figure 3 is a plan view ofthe blank from which the resting piece is formed.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the supporting bracket.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a device embodying my invention, thedevice being shown "in one position in which it may be used.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

In the drawings, 10 represents a base which may be formed from a sheetmetal blank such as that illustrated in Figure 1. The base comprises aflat body portion having'perpendicula'r side walls 11, formed by bendingthe blank along the lines 12, and a perpendicular end wall 13, formed bybending the blank along the line 14.

Hingedly connected to the base by means of a pintle 21 is a restingpiece 22 which may be formed from a sheet metal blank such as thatillustrated in Figure 3. The resting piece com- 5 prises a body portionhaving perpendicular side walls 23, formed by bending the blank alongthe lines 24 and perpendicular-end"wal1s"*25;' forinedfby bending theblankalong the lines 26. Eachside wall of the resting piece is providedwith a hole 27for the rec'e'ptionof thepintle 2L1 and each side wall ofthebase' is provided with a1 corresponding 'ho1e2i3, The resting pieceisadapted to be disposed in various inclined positions with respect to thebase and supported in such positions by means of'a supporting bracket 31which is hinged in ears 32 formed on the resting piece and c'ooper ateswith stop lugs 33lformed by striking up the material of the base atspaced points. These lug'smay be arrangedin two longitudinal rowsasshown'; lhe supporting bracket 31 may be made of heavywire bent toforma U and preferably is reinforced by means of a triangular piece ofsheetinetal 34 provided withthree lashes 35, which are bent and"pressedaround the wire i m n e br c e Thedimensions of the resting piece aresuch that it is adapted to fit within the base when these parts are'folded together. The primary purpose of this; case-like construction isto give rigidity to the de'vice and to adapt it to'befolded intoa' coinpactform sothat it will occupy a' minimum "of space." When folded, thedevice is flat and may readily be" slipped into a persons pocket orbrief i case; Alsofin'its folded position it lends itself readily topackingfor shipment. It'will be noted that whenthe device is folded up,the resting piece cooperateswith'the base to'form a chamber'within whichare encasedthe supporting bracket 31 and its bearings, the pintle 21'and the stop lugs 33; These parts are thus protected from the resultsfofpressure that may be applied tothe device, accidently or otherwise,whenit is in folded position. 1" 'Aniinportant feature of my inventionis the provision of, means wherebymysupporting device, although'srnallinsize, cansupport large fiat objects such as book's, pictures orthe like.Such means inmy devicecomprisesa stop formed of'thesame material as thebase piece, namely, sheet metal, and preferably integral therewith. Asshown in Figure 5, the base isprovided with an extension 36 which hasa'portion 37bent up a: an obtuse angle with respect to the base to forma 10 stop for the lower edge of the article being supported. Toillustrate the utility of this feature of my invention I will assumethat the supporting device is placed on a horizontal plane, for exampleon a table or a desk, and a book is placed on 19 the supporting devicein reading position. It Will be observed that the lower edge of eachcover of the book will be supported by the table or desk. The extension36 of the base, being made of sheet metal, is relatively thin, andconsequently the lower edges of the book covers are not raisedappreciably above the plane of the table or desk surface. The weight ofthe book is thus on a solid base and stability is thus provided for thebook while in reading position. In other constructions with whichapplicant is familiar, the stop is provided on the resting piece and thebook is main" tained in stability only by making the stop so wide thatit supports the whole width of the book along the lower edges of itscovers. This re quires a wide stop, otherwise large books cannot be heldon it. However, a wide stop is a handicap in handling and transportingthe device and also makes the entire device bulky and expensive. Such asupporting device cannot, for example, be carried in a mans coat pocket.

In order to further insure that the book or other article beingsupported will not slip from the supporting device I have provided thebent-up portion 37 with a plurality of stop lugs 38 formed by strikingup the material as clearly illustrated in Figure 5. If the article beingsupported is a book the middle one of these lugs, being located on thelongitudinal axis of the base, serves to engage the lower edge of theback of the book. By virtue of this middle lug even very thick books areperfectly secure on my device. The other lugs also aid in preventing thearticle being supported from slipping off the support. It should beunderstood that the lugs 38, while desirable in some instances, are notessential.

Another important feature of my invention resides in the manner in whichthe stop lugs 33 are struck up from the base. In prior construc- 40tions in which the base member has been provided with stop lugs punchedout of the sheet metal to resist the horizontal component of thepressure exerted upon them when a book is being supported, the stop lugshave been bent in such a way that the bending edges are parallel to thehinge axis. In such constructions, when the lugs are bent but slightlyout of their normal position, their reliability as stops for permittingadjustment of the inclination of the resting piece is w more or lessimpaired. In my invention, I have overcome this difficulty by strikingup the stop lugs so that the bending edges of the lugs are perendicularto the hinge axis. Thus the strength ,of the stop lugs in the directionof the horizontal component of the force exerted by the book or otherarticle being supported is greatly increased so that the thickness ofthe metal of which the device is made may be minimized. In thisconstruction, even if the stop lugs happen to be bent out of position,they will nevertheless still be capable of performing their function.

The sheet metal of which the device is made may be covered andreinforced by a layer of celluloid, hard rubber or bakelite, or otherartificial resins. Such materials materially deaden the tinkling orrattling sound when the device is handled. To further reduce the noisemade in handling the device and to avoid its opening accidentally, thedevice may be provided with a means for holding the hinged partstogether in their folded position. One such means may comprise elongatedopenings 41 in the resting piece adapted to cooperate with elongatedknuckles 42 on the base. When the device is folded together, theknuckles 42 on each side of the base snap into the openings 41 on eachside of the resting piece. The interengagement is such that little forceis required to open the device into its operative position.

The bottom of the base 10 may be provided with rubber, felt or otheranti-skid material to prevent the slipping of the device when resting ona smooth surface. Such rubber, felt or other material may cover theentire bottom of the base or may be in strips running longitudinally orcross wise. On the other hand, they may be in the form of domes or pegsplaced at appropriate points such as in the four corners on the bottomside of the base.

If'he case-like base and resting piece may be pressed out of singlesheets so that the walls are seamless, or the walls may be riveted orwelded or soldered together. The closed edges materially increaseresistance against torsion. The Weight of the device may be reduced bystamping out portions of the material forming the base and resting pieceas illustrated.

Although I have, in the above description, exemplified the use of myinvention in connection with the supporting of a book, I wish it to beunderstood that I do not limit myself to such use. My improvedsupporting device may be used to support not only books but pictures,cards and other articles to be displayed.

From the foregoing description, it will be clear that the deviceconsists of few and simple parts and can be cheaply manufactured andthat various slight changes can be made without departing from thespirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A portable supporting device comprising a thin sheet metal base and athin sheet metal resting piece hinged together, means for supportingsaid resting piece at an angle with respect to said base and an integralextension on said base bent to form a stop for an article supported bysaid resting piece, said bent up portion having a plurality of integrallugs bent up to form a secondary stop for said article said lugsextending substantially parallel to said base.

2. A portable supporting device comprising a base piece and a restingpiece hinged together, each piece comprising a body portion having sideflanges depending from opposed sides thereof, the two pieces beingmovable relatively about the hinge to bring them into nested relationand interengaging means associated with said pieces to interlock themwhen they are brought into nested relation, said interengaging meanscomprising openings formed in the side flanges of said resting piece andcomplemental protuberances formed on the side flanges of said basepiece.

HAROLD W. BENTLEY.

